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The Foresthill Divide is Divided on the Pace of Development |
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Written by Gary Moffat
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If you ever wanted to run far away or lose yourself for all time, the densely wooded hillsides and the deep ravines at the end of the Foresthill Road are places where you could attempt to do it.
In fact, it would not surprise me a bit if the Foresthill Divide was a prime destination for former mobsters turned stoolies who are newly ensconced in the Federal Witness Protection program. I can almost hear a Federal attorney trying to sell a candidate, Louis (Louie Bagels) Daldone, on the upsides of Foresthill: “Look, Louie, they even have a great little market there called Worton’s where you can get anything ... okay so maybe they don’t have those chewy bagels with a schmear, but they’ve got a killer wine aisle.”
Foresthill is a place barely on the grid, and you have to be going there on purpose ... a fact that is a decided draw for many of the hardy, independent souls who have called the Divide home for generations. Where else would you expect the California State Lumberjack Championships to be held or a major gold panning event as witnessed there over the weekend?
Where else would you expect to find a roadside marker memorializing the murder of “Old Joe,” a lead member of a six-horse team who was shot to death by a lone gunman in 1901 in the last stage robbery on the Foresthill Road, about seven miles below town and not far from what is now “Everybody’s Inn,” a sagging, fading roadhouse? Every Fourth of July, a new American flag is placed at a monument installed in 2001 by the Auburn Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West.
Where else can you live so inexpensively in California, and enjoy the good life in a modest trailer or tiny shack? Many of the folks who live here have moved to the Divide for the expressed purpose of isolating themselves from the mainstream. They embrace the solitude and the chance to go the entire day without speaking to or even setting eyes on another human being.
On many of the narrow, twisty roads crisscrossing the Divide, strangers stick out like sore thumbs and aren’t necessarily welcomed. In some places, you’d better have a good reason for being there, because only the good Lord knows what is going on. The last thing a bumbling tourist would want to do is stumble upon a patch of illicit vegetation or break out a metal detector on a posted mining claim.
Perhaps the worst thing to ever happen to Foresthill—at least in the minds of those seeking to maintain the status quo—was the widening and rebuilding of the Foresthill Road nearly a decade ago. When the pavement was narrow and crumbling, it made for a treacherous 17-mile trek to the top, serving as an effective barrier to outsiders. These days, it’s a breeze to motor up to the Tahoe National Forest and delightful spots such as the Sugar Pine Reservoir recreation area.
Even though it is decidedly out of the way, the Divide has seen its share of development. For example, Todd Valley Estates, a former Placer mining site during the Gold Rush, is now laden with single-family homes on a wide network of looping streets. And there are many beautiful estates and ranches hidden away—home to young families and retirees alike seeking the good life with a view.
No doubt it is its native beauty, 3,000-foot elevation and proximity to the wilds of a national forest and prime recreation land that makes the Divide an enticing prospect for real estate developers. And right now, the Placer County Planning Commission is struggling with updating the region’s nearly 30-year old general plan.
At a recent meeting, the Planning Commission voted to move forward with an updated plan for a 109-square-mile chunk of the Divide that would accommodate population growth more than triple the current 6,000 residents, according to a published report. At the same time, it put a proposal for a long-planned development called Forest Ranch on the back burner. This scheme—in the works for nearly two decades—would comprise more than 2,200 home sites, a business and office complex, an RV park, an 18-hole golf course and an equestrian center located on 2,600 acres.
While preservationists on the hill are delighted with the Planning Commission’s inclination to take a measured approach to growth, not everyone is enamored with the outcome. The local Chamber of Commerce, quite naturally, embraces the Forest Ranch concept because of the obvious business opportunities that would result.
Whatever your viewpoint on how growth should be managed on the Divide, the ironic thing is that 150 years ago, this region was one of the most populous in all of California, with more souls living here than in San Francisco. Case in point: Yankee Jims, which today is not much more than a historical marker three miles north of Foresthill, was once a crowded mining town of 3,000 people, complete with hotels, saloons and all manner of comforts. In 1857, it was such a significant place it was the site for that year’s California Democratic Convention.
Perhaps someday Foresthill and its environs will be developed, I don’t know. But I do know this: it will go kicking and screaming every step of the way.
Gary Moffat is a journalist and owner of Carpe Vino in Old Town Auburn. He can be reached at
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